The Six Stages of Album Recording – Part 1

So you want to produce your own album project? Producing a record involves lots of creativity, planning, focus, time and money. There was a time when a record label would take care of much of the process, from securing the right producer(s) and songs, to funding the recording process. At one time this was the norm, but today it is truly a luxury.

Any artist self-producing a project now takes on all of the responsibility for focusing creative output, budgeting, planning and scheduling. Self-producing a record can be very rewarding, exciting and lucrative if done right. Knowing the process of recording and assessing accurately your needs regarding how much time, money and resources will be needed is extremely important to the success of the project.

Without understanding the process of recording, you won’t be able to anticipate and avoid costly mistakes and delays. Your first CD project is too important to leave the details to chance. Provided you have a successful career in music, you will likely have more than one album release in your future; however, your first one doesn’t have to be a bad experience.

I have recorded 12 albums for SCR Entertainment, and over the course of recording these projects I have identified six distinct stages of recording an album. I will present these six stages in three parts as follows:

Part 1 – Stage 1: Preproduction and Stage 2: Tracking
Part 2 – Stage 3: Overdubbing and Stage 4: Editing
Part 3 – Stage 5: Mixing and Stage 6: Mastering

Stage 1: Preproduction
Your very early smart moves involves the work done during preproduction. Preproduction in very simple terms means things that take place before production. This is the most important stage of your project for avoiding potential problems throughout the rest of the project.

This is the stage of preparation where you essentially determine the particulars of the project. This is where writing, rehearsing, critiquing and choosing songs takes place. Doing this in advance will help you achieve a more polished performance later, as well as save time when the studio clock is ticking. Even if your recording time is free because you’re working in a personal studio, your professionalism demonstrated by being prepared in advance will show up in the end result of your project and bottom line.

If you are working with others, your preproduction work will help avoid wasting their time. Preproduction is also the stage in which to consider: who (as in, who needs to be involved,) what (as in, what do I need to do to complete the project successfully) and where (as in, commercial or home studio) will I record the project.

Achieving clarity regarding budget and scheduling during this stage will be the best way to complete the album cost effectively and within the established schedule.

Stage 2: Tracking
Great albums are made up of great songs, and great songs are made up of a great marriage between lyrics and music. Tracking is where that marriage begins. No matter if you are a solo artist or are part of a band, the first recording sessions of an album are called tracking sessions.

Tracking involves determining the sounds to use for a song, as well as the tempo and even the feel of a particular song and the project overall. Tracking is the stage where your album foundation is laid out. Programming and sequencing track foundations should provide you with enough vibe and energy to allow you to hear and feel where the song is going.

If you don’t love a song at this stage, you probably won’t love it later. I believe tracking is hands down, the most important stage in the process because everything gets built on top of these foundation tracks. Tracking sessions must be well planned out to avoid wasted time and costly mistakes.

Wisdom from the Grind: To produce a great album, know the six stages of album recording!